To the surprise of nobody (but to the chagrin of many), the Pirates have re-signed shortstop Clint Barmes to a one year deal worth $2 million. Barmes will probably be taking a reduced role behind Jordy Mercer as a backup, late inning defensive replacement, and occasional starter. He made $10.5M over the last two years, so this is a pretty significant pay cut for him….but I think most would agree it’s about what he’s worth at this point.

There’s no debate about what Barmes is at this point. He can’t hit. He has a .579 OPS as a Pirate, which is downright awful. There was hope that he could at least be a passable offensive player when the Bucs brought him in two years ago (when he was around the .700 mark), but that’s gone now. Barmes’ value is entirely based on his defense, where he is still very strong. He doesn’t often dazzle with spectacular plays and will still boot a grounder once in a while, but I think most would agree that his range and dependability is important to the Pirates and their ground ball oriented pitching staff. We especially saw that when Mercer got some opportunities at the end of the year — I wouldn’t say Mercer was all that bad and have faith that he can handle the job eventually, but there was a clear difference. The numbers agree – Barmes still posts very good defensive metrics, and according to those, his defense added about two wins worth of value in each of the last two seasons. That makes him well worth a couple million. If you’re still going to completely ignore defense when evaluating a player, you weren’t paying enough attention last year…it was one of the keys to the Bucs’ success. The Pirates could clearly do a lot better at the plate, but there were virtually no other options on the shortstop market. (Stephen Drew is the only free agent anyone would want, and he’d cost a bunch – plus a draft pick.) Throw in the fact that Barmes likes Pittsburgh and the team clearly liked him, and it wasn’t hard to see this coming.

While bringing Barmes back as a backup makes sense, it’s fair to wonder how Clint Hurdle will handle the situation. He did give Jordy Mercer the starting job in the middle of the summer, but by the end of the year they were splitting time again, with Barmes getting most the work in the playoffs and big games down the stretch. Mercer is clearly the significantly better hitter, though – enough to negate the difference in defense – and needs to get the bulk of the playing time at some point, as he’s probably going to have the job to himself eventually. Hurdle and the Pirates clearly understood that Mercer needs to play every day against lefties, who he absolutely destroyed in 2013 (1.152 OPS), and that will certainly continue. The question is what will happen against right handed pitchers, where the offensive difference between Mercer and Barmes isn’t all that big (.654 OPS vs .565 OPS in 2013). Mercer should still play more, but Barmes will likely get some starts with RHP’s on the mound – and the Pirates could optimize this further by playing him on days when ground ball machine Charlie Morton pitches (along with maybe Edinson Volquez and A.J. Burnett if he returns). Barmes could also see some additional time if Mercer slides over to 2B occasionally when the Bucs face a lefty, since Neil Walker stinks against LHP’s.

I thought Hurdle did a pretty good job of managing all that last season and I expect him to do it again in 2014 while leaning on Mercer a little more. Mercer is far from a known commodity at the plate, but he’s almost certainly going to be better than Barmes there and the Pirates need to give him the reigns eventually. Barmes can supplement him well enough by playing on days his strengths can be maximized and when Mercer is less likely to be effective (behind ground ball pitchers and going up against right handed pitchers). It’s far from an ideal situation at short, but the Pirates made it work late in 2013 and it’s a reasonable strategy given the circumstances.

Other news from this week and the winter meetings:

The Bucs lost pitcher Wei-Chung Wang to the Brewers in the Rule 5 Draft. He is an intriguing arm, but was in the Gulf Coast League this year. The Brewers will need to keep him on the major league squad all season to hang on to him.

The Bucs did not make a pick in the draft, as their roster was full. They still need to clear space for Edinson Volquez and Barmes.

The first base saga continues. The Pirates remain interested in James Loney, who now definitely looks like the best remaining option. Logan Morrison was traded to the Mariners and Corey Hart signed there as well. The Brewers and Rays will be the Bucs’ primary competition for Loney. If they don’t get him, Andrew Lambo has been playing some first base in winter ball…

Of course, the Bucs could still make a trade as well. Mitch Moreland (Texas 1B) is another name that’s been thrown around, but I’m not too thrilled about that. Earlier in the week, we heard the Pirates were getting a lot of interest in Justin Wilson. It would make sense to sell high on the fireballing lefty reliever who had a great rookie year, but despite the fact that he’s a reliever, he’s not a guy I see the Pirates trading due to his upside (potential future closer, or maybe even a starter) and years of control. The bullpen is a strength they could trade from, though, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them shop some other arms. I also wouldn’t be opposed to trading Wilson for a really nice return, obviously.